The aftermath: Aluthgama two weeks on

Two weeks have passed since violence broke out in Aluthgama and Beruwala on the 15th June- a day that will go down in the history books of Sri Lanka as nothing short of a dark, dark day. These are a few photos I managed to take while carefully stepping through the rubble of the affected houses, and a personal account of conversations with affected residents and families of those who lost their lives.

The general sentiments were in absolute spite of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS). Written in the soot that canvassed the remaining walls of the houses burnt, these sentiments are now drawing crowds from one house to the next.

There was plenty written about Galagodaaththe Gnanasara. Let’s just say they weren’t very nice.

‘Is this the compassion in Buddhism?’ others questioned.

‘State weapons have been used’, ‘Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is responsible’, ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa is responsible’, a few pointed out.

“Meygollo thamai apita mehema kaley” (they are the ones that did this to us), one man said glaring down at my pirith nool. Pirith nool is a sacred thread that is tied on the wrists of Buddhists, said to be blessed with powers to ward off evil spirits and of healing. I had contemplated whether to remove it before heading down, but decided to keep it on- people of Aluthgama should know that the BBS doesn’t represent moderate Buddhists. “Api okkoma ehema na” (we are not all like that), a friend said quickly coming to my defence. He didn’t seem too convinced.

“Meka mangkollayak, miss. Jaathivadi mokakvath nemei” (This is robbery, miss. Nothing racial in this), one man said. Still visibly shaking, another nodded in agreement and added that 7 lakhs worth of goods had been stolen from his house.

The wives of two men who lost their lives during the early hours of the 16th were in mourning. Mohammed Zahiran and Mohammed Shiraz were protecting the village mosque that was temporarily housing their wives and children, since their homes were no longer safe, said their in-laws. I recognized the oldest daughter of Mohammed Zahiran from a clip I had seen, and noticed that her eyes were still as puffy as they were on the video that was uploaded close to two weeks back. A friend was trying to distract the oldest daughter of Mohammed Shiraz with a smart phone to keep her from re-living the horror, while Shiraz’s brother- in-law gave us his account of the night. But late Shiraz’s youngest daughter kept running back to her mother’s room for comfort while her mother tried hard to hold back tears and wiped the dirt off the little girl’s feet.

“Miss, mehema thamai Yaapaneth thiyenna aththe” (Miss, this must’ve been what Jaffna looked like). I was at a loss for words.

Another said maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. “Mewa dakala danwath meka nawaththuwoth monawa nathath, eka mokakhari” (if they see these and put an end to this, if nothing else, that’s something).

I hoped he was right.

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Fitzpatrick

Can someone please send these images to Dayan J. May he look at these and remind himself of his great “victory” in 2009 that paved the way for this !

Ian Wood

according to BBS, they just came to Aluthgama to make pirirth cermony. here this what they say. The United National Party (UNP), certain powerful foreign diplomatic missions and Muslim extremist organizations were behind the clear international conspiracy that orchestrated the recent communal clashes and religious riots in Aluthgama and Beruwala, the BBS intoned.The BBS also noted that Beruwala was a hot spot for harbouring and fostering terrorism through a centre for training terrorists, which was masquerading under the guise of being a religious institution.

srivanamoth

Blame international conspiracies and what not to hide the inner devilry! Nothing has changed since independence; if at all, getting worse all the time.

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